‘Enable online nomination in civic polls’

G Kumar, State Convener, Rajiv Gandhi Panchayat Raj Sangatha, part of the TNCC, had contended that the practice of accepting nomination online has been implemented in Maharashtra and various other States and hence could be introduced in Tamil Nadu as well. Pointing out that for both the Parliamentary polls as well as the recently concluded assembly polls, online filing of nominations prevailed, he submitted that during the previous local body polls, manual submission of nominations had led to a number of grievances over arbitrary rejection of nominations, with no immediate remedy available.

The petitioner’s advocate argued that in the manual process, certain papers could be ‘pulled out’ deliberately in a bid to reject the nomination. He contended that the online process would not only pave way for transparency in dealing with nomination forms from candidates, but also ensure that the nominations of eligible candidates are not rejected on the whims and fancies of the returning officer. 

First bench comprising Chief Justice Sanjay Kishan Kaul and Justice R Mahadevan who heard the plea, sought the State Election Commission as well as the Rural Development and Panchayat Raj department to take a decision on submission of filing nomination papers electronically, uploading the nomination papers and monitoring the polling booths.